Protective hoods, such as those used by firefighters are exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,972,520; 5,090,054; 5,873,132; and 6,662,375, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, and are available commercially from Morning Pride Manufacturing, L.L.C. of Dayton, Ohio. Additionally, protective hoods are also used by others such as race car drivers, rescue workers and other emergency personnel.
It is common for a protective hood such as worn by firefighters and other emergency workers to be made from a knit material that stretches in the circumferential direction C around the head of the wearer for fit and ease of donning the hood, as shown in FIG. 1. However, because the knit material does not have the same ability to stretch in the longitudinal direction L, extra fabric will often remain at the crown of the head after it is donned, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. This extra material can become an irritant to a wearer, and/or interfere with other protective gear, such as a protective helmet.